Process for converting liquid soap into alpha rapidly soluble handy form



Patented Nov. 8, 1932 PATENT OFFICE ADOL'F WELTER, or CREFELD, GERMANY PROCESS FOR CONVERTING LIQUID SOAP INTO A RAPIDLY SOLUBLE HANDY FOR]! R6 Drawing. Application filed April 22, 1929, Serial No. 357,342, and in Germany November 20, 1928.

It is already known to press soap powder, made by atomizing liquid soap, into the form of bars or pieces. This shaping, however, has the great disadvantage that the bars or 5 pie( cs must first be cut up if it is desired to dissolve the soap for washing purposes. Difficulties then arise, especially in the case of high-percentage, and therefore brittle, soaps.

According to the present invention, the

10 soap powder obtained by atomization of the liquid soap obtained from filled soap or curd soap, if necessary after passing through roller mills, is pressed in extruding presses to fine threads. The preliminary conversion of the soap into soap powder serves to dry the soap first, so that, as mentioned below, separate drying apparatus becomes unnecessary.

The advantages of this process over the direct production of threads from a liquid soap mass not first converted into powder lie preeminently in this; that on the one hand time, heat, power and work are substantially saved, and that on the other hand one is completely independent of the properties of the fats and oils used, since solid and durable products, very suitable for putting up in packets, are obtained even from soaps containing only soft fat.

If it is desired to produce threads, wool or flakes from soap, the latter must be preliminarily dried, more or less, according to its composition, before rolling or pressing. This is done either by laying the liquid soap on the so-called roller driers in quite thin layers and removing the films of soap dried on the steel rollers by means of a scraping-knife, or, by forming the liquid soap into strips on cool rollers and bringing these to the desired degree of dryness on band driers. Both the roller-drying process, and the band-drying process are wasteful as compared with the atomization process of drying the soap used in the present invention. In the atomization method of drying soap the heat, power and time consumed are considerably less than in either of the previously mentioned methods of drying soap. A further important advantage in drying soap by atomization also consists in this, that even when the so-called soft fat-s are exclusively used for making the soaps concerned, products are still obtained which are dry, no longer caking, and are easy to form into threads. This shaping is readily done even with a potashor soda-soap of castor oil if the process of the present invention is applied; such a soap after drying by the roller drying process may be converted only with extreme difiiculty into a dry product capable of being shaped, and after drying by the band process it may not be converted at all into a dry product with this capability.

Further it was not to be expected that dry soap obtained in powder form by atomization can be directly pressed out to lustrous, homogeneous soap threads without further means than by forcing it through thin sieves with numerous very fine openings, which, soap threads, when their diameter does not exceed 1 mm., subsequently dry, in even ten to twenty minutes to a product which is so brittle and no longer caking that the threads may be broken down to small, transparent, crystal-like rod-shaped pieces.

-Preferably a curd soap having a water content of about 30% is used for the atomization; such a soap is atomized to a product which is free from water as far as possible. Since the extrusion of this almost water-free powder offers difiiculties it is preferably mixed, as stated in Example 3, with about 1O to 40% of liquid soap as well, or, as described in Example 4, with water glass. If the atomization is carried out such that the powder still has a water content of about 520%, even these additions canbe dispensed with. However, it is more convenient to make dry soap powder and then to obtain the necessary plasticity by admixing the said substances.

If the soap contains soft fats, such as castor oil, sunflower oil, bean oil, maize oil, ground nut oil, or the like, operations must be carried out with the minimum water content; in the case of hard fats, however, a higher water content is preferable. The pressure neces sary for the extrusion depends upon the water content and the nature of the fat. In most cases 1025 atmospheres suflice. It is also important that the mass is not too warm but is well cooled in the press, since otherwise the friction is too eat and the soap becomes too viscid. If t e mass is homogenized by means of rollers before the extrusion of the power, then the thickness of the soap film'producedon the rollers is of no importance as regards the extrusion. It is only preferably, therefore, to make films having a thickness of as far as possible 0.5-1 mm. in order to crush any soap granules forming during the atomization, which otherwise would choke up the orifices of the sieve.

Of course, not only pure soaps may be shaped according to the described process, but also all such liquid soaps which contain electrolytes or other additions of some kind which do not affect the liquid or colloidal state. 1

The process described ermits of a completely automatic and uninterrupted working, so that the manufacturing costs are considerably smaller than in the case of the commercial products hitherto available, which products are less satisfactory with regard to the rapidity of dissolution and con venience of handling.

Examples 1. Soda soap of castor oil containing 60- 62% of fatty acid is atomized to a powder in the known manner which has a fatty acid content of 86-88%. The powder is directly supplied to the funnel of an extruding press and pressed through fine nozzles of 0.4-1 mm. diameter into fine, lustrous'threads, which become brittle after a short subsequent drying in a current of air and break down into very fine, lustrous, highly transparent small rod-shaped pieces.

2. Liquid olive oil soap with a fatty acid content of about 60 to 62% is so atomized that the fatty acid content rises to 82%. The powder so obtained is likewise supplied to the funnel of an extruding press, and is converted into fine threads by forcing through nozzles of OA to 1.5 mm., which threads become brittle after air has been led over them for a short time and break down to small, readily soluble rod-shaped pieces.

3. Liquid curd soap, prepared from 60% coconut oil and 40% ground nut oil or solid fat is so atomized in the known manner that the fatty acid content rises to 80-90%. The powder so obtained is mixed in a mixing machine for 5-10 minutes with -25% of liquid curd soap and may then be immediately pressed through fine nozzles to fine threads.

4. The soap powder containing 88-90% of fatty acid obtained according to Example 3 is mixed for a short" time with to waterglass of 38 Beaum in a mixing machine, is then formed into strips once or twice by means of a roller mill and may then be imdirectly pressin mediately pressed to fine threads in an uninterrupted process.

What I claim is 1. A process for producing soap in the form of fine, rapidly soluble threads, consiting in atomizing molten soap from liquid olive oil of to 62% fatty acid content and in the resulting dry soap particles into fine t reads by extrusion through fine nozzles of 0.4 to 1.5 mm. diameter and passing air over the threads to make them rittle.

2. In the process of manufacturing soap in the form of fine rapidly-soluble threads, the steps comprising drying liquid curd soap by atomization, mixing the resulting powder with liquid curd soap, and extrudingthe mixing to fine threads not over 1.5 mm. diameter.

3. In the process of manufacturing soap in the form of fine rapidly soluble threads, the steps comprising liquid curd soap by atomization, mixing the resultant powder with 30-to 50% of water-glass of 38 Beaum, extruding the mixture to fine threads not over 1.5 mm. diameter.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ADOLF WELTER. 

